Signaling appasatus



(No Model.) A 2 Sheets-Sheet 1; T. SHAW.

SIGNALING APPARATUS.

No. 384,792. Patented June 19, 1888.

E ii! 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. SHAW.

SIGNALING APPARATUS.

(No Model.)

No. 384,792. Patented Jun e 19, 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC THOMAS SHAW', OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SIGNALING APPARATUS.

sPECIPICATJ ION forming part of Letters Patent No. 384,792, dated June 19, 1888.

Application filed September 2, 1887. Serial No. 248,627. (No model.) Patented in England March 8. 1887, No. 3,531; in France March 8, 1887, No. 182,057; in Germany March 8,1887, No. 41.836; in Belgium March 9, 1887, No. 76,622, and in Canada December 22, 1887, No. 28,222.

Mines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in the certain means fully set forth hereinafter, and which are included in the following foreign patents: Great Britain dated March 8, 1887, No. 3,531; Canada, dated December 22, 1887, No. 28,222; France, dated March 8, 1887, No. 182,057; Belgium, dated March 9, 1887, No. 76,622; Germany,

dated March 8, 1887, No. 41,836, whereby to" sound an alarm in a mine from a ground-station, or at the groundstation from within the mine, and for regulating said alarms according to any predetermined system, so as to send messages back and forth between the station and mine-chamber of any suitable character, and to supply fresh air direct to each miners workings independent of the regular current of air used for ventilation.

The object of this invention is to establish a safe and efficient means of communication with the miner in his workings, and to quickly supply the miner with fresh air in cases of disaster, where the miner is liable to speedy death by white'damp, choke-damp, or excess of marsh-gas, that has heretofore sacrificed .so many lives.

In order to enable others to use and practice my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the specification, Figure 1 is an elevation of the apparatus at the groundstation and diagrammatic view showing the connection with the mine-signal; Fig. 2, an external edge view of the hand-valve device for operating the mine-signal; Fig. 3, a section on line 1 2, Fig. 2; Figs. 4 and 5, sections on line 3 4., Fig. 8; Fig. 6, a side view of said hand signal device; Fig. 7, a sectional enlarged view of the minewhistle, with inlet-valve 35; Fig. 8, a sectional enlarged view of the shifting device for sounding the ground-signal; Fig. 9, an

One form of apparatus for carrying out my improved system of signaling is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 9, in which X represents a suitable table or stand arranged at the station above ground, and supporting a reservoir, J, containing air under pressure, supplied by hand or power pump, and a tank, E, in which is maintained a partial vacuum by an exhausting-pump or device, A, and upon the table are a number of whistles, B, hand-valve devices W, and automatic valveshifting devices I, with suitable pipes and connections with each mine-chamber, only one of B W I being shown.

The valve device Vvcommunioates with the pipe I), extending into the mine, and to a chamber, Y, thereof, where it is provided with a terminal flexible section, b',with a whistle, O, or other alarm device at the end constructed to sound upon the flow of air from the tube 6 toward the chamber Y.

The valve device W coutrolsthe flow of air through the pipe toward the whistle O.

In the construction shown each valve device W communicates with the pipe b,and through a pipe, 0, with the exhauster A through the tank E, and said valve device consists of a valve-casing, a, Figs. 3 to 6, with ports kand Z covered by a common D-valve, 30. The port It connects with the tube b, and the port L with the tube 0. The casing of said valve device is also connected through a pipe, d, with the reservoir J. r

The valve 30 is connected with a shaft, f, actuated by a hand-lever, e. When thelever is depressed to the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 6, it rotates the shaft f and shifts the valve from over the port It" to the position shown in Fig. 5, and a weight or spring connected with a wire rod, 9, Fig. 6, brings the valve back to the normal position shown in Fig. 4:. WVhen the valve is in the position,

Fig. 4, the air exhausted by the air-pump A compressing of the flexible section b of the each of said partspipe I) will serve to prevent the flow of air or gas from the mine, and thus cause an exhaust or partial vacuum. I make this the medium of varying the pressure and operating the shifting device I and cause the signal.

The valveshifting device I may be a motor constructed in different ways to move the valve under the varying pressure within the minepipc. As shown,there is a metallic casing,15, secured beneath the table X, with a chamber divided by a diaphragm, 8, ofsheet-rubber secured between two disks, the outer edge of the dii'iphragm being clamped between the two parts composing the casing. In the center of said diaphragm is secured a valvestem,which passes through an ordinary packing-box, 6,150 a vaivecasing, l7, and there carries a common slidc'valve, 18, covering aport, 7, which leads to a pipe 19, communicating with the whistle B. The diaphragm is connected by a link to a pivoted weighted lever, 2. A tube, a,l'eads to the casing l7 from one of the pipes 0, corn municating with the cylinder J, so that highpressure air is always present in the valvecasing 17. A. tube, 20, forms a communication between the chamber X below the diaphragm 8 and the tube Z) from the mine, so that when the air in said tube is being exhausted there is a tendency to a constant-partial vacuum on the under side of the diaphragm 8,tending to draw it downward, which is counteracted by an excess of weight, 8, on the lever 2. When,therefore,the elastic tube b is closed by pressure of the lingers, such a greater vacu-' um is produced as will draw said diaphragm downward and shift the valve 18, uncovering the port? and permitting the air to pass from the reservoir J and pipes at and c to the casing 17 and port 7, and then through thepipe 19 to the whistle B, which sounds until the compression of the tube 1) ceases,when the vacuum will be relieved, the diaphragm and valve will rise, and the port 7 willbe closed. Thus signals are sent from the mines to the station above, actuated by an exhaust or at the outer end, so that by alternately compressing and releasing the elastic pipe-section b a series ofsignals may be made according to any predetermined system,which will enable the miners to send any desired information to the central station. \Vhen it is desired to reverse the current in the tube 1) for the purpose of signaling back to the mines,the valve 30 of the valve device W is placed in the position, Fi 5, which closes the port Zto the exhaust-pump and opens the port k,so that air from the reservoir J can pass through the pipe d, casing a, and through the pipe 6 to the whistle O in the mine,and there sound the signal or alarm, after which the valve, when the hand is removed, immediately recovers its normal posit-ion, Fig. 4, and the air passes to the exhaustingpump, as before.

By properly manipulating the lever c any desired succession of predetermined signals a may be sounded into the mine-chamber.

Instead of the flexible tube-section I), the

tube 2) may be provided with a valve or cock for interrupting communication at will.

While I have referred to a whistle, any other suitable alarm device may be used.

While I have shown exhausting and valveshifting devices of a certain character, I do not limit myself to the precise construction shown, as any skilled mechanic can vary them indefinitely without departing from the main feature of my invention.

While the pump or other air-pressure device and the exhaust-pa mp or other vacuum device mayeommunicate directly with the mine-pipes, I prefer to use the vacuum-tank E, connected with the exhaust-pump A,which permits of a number of tubes, 0, Fig. 1, leading from valve devices connected with the pipes of separate mine-chambers to be all connected with one vacuu iii-chamber and one exhaust-pump. The pipes c are provided with ordinary valves to regulate or limit the flow through each separate pipe, and I also prefer to use one pressure tank or reservoir, which may be put in communication with a series of signal devices.

Heretofore miners have not been provided with any means to ward off the deadly effects of the gases known as choke-damp, (00,.) and whitedamp, (C0 and where an excess of carbureted hydrogen cuts off the needful supply of oxygen and suffocation ensues. The statistics of mine disasters show lists of thousands of deaths from this cause, the major portion of which would havebeen prevented by the means herein set forth for supplying fresh air uncontaminated by minegases direct to the individual miner to sustain his life from that source until the regular enough to flow down said pipe to supply a dozen men and sustain their lives against suffocating gases.

It will be evident that the exhaust-tubes leading to the mine-chambers may be used in connection with the pump or blower independently of the signaling devices.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown, I claim-- 1. The combination of a mine, a tube leading from a chamber thereof to a terminal station, an air-exhauster and air-pressure device at such station, and a valve controlling the communication between said tube and the exhauster and pressure devices, substantially as described.

2. The combination,with a pipe leading to a mi'nechamber and with an exhauster eommunicating therewith, of an alarm communicating with the inner end of said pipe, a second alarm near the outer end communicating with an air-tank through a pipe provided with avalve, and a valve-shifter connected with said valve and in line with the communication between the mine-pipe and exhanster, substantiall y as described.

3. The combination, with the mine-pipe b, alarms B O at the terminal station and in the mine, respectively, and air pressure and ex haust pumps,with connections with the pipe I), of a valve controlling the flow of air between the exhaust-pump and said pipe and between the pressure-pump and the alarm B, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the mine-pipe I), alarms B O at the terminal station and in the mine, respectively, and air pressure and exhaust pumps, of reservoirs or tanks connected with said pumps, and a valve controlling the communication between the exhaust-tank and minepipe and between the pressure-tank and pipe and also with the alarm B, substantially as described.

5. The combination,with the mine pipe and pump connected therewith, and with the alarm at the station end of the pipe, of a chamber communicating with the pipe and provided with a diaphragm and connections between the diaphragm and the alarm whereby the latter is sounded on the movement of the diaphragm under the variation of pressure in the pipe, substantially as described.

6. The combination of a tube leading to a mine, exhaust-pump connected with said tube and with a chamber covered by a diaphragm,

a whistle, a valve controlling the passageto the whistle from a reservoir of air under pressure, and a connection between the valve and 40 the diaphragm, and means for interrupting the flow of air through the mi ne-tube, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the whistle above ground, a whistle in amine-chamber, eonnect- 1,5 ing-tubes and pump for controlling the flow of air through the mine-tube, a valve for controlling the flow of air to the whistleabove ground, adiaph ragm in a chamber com muniatingwith the mine-tube and connected to said valve,and a hand-valve constructed to open and close the communication between the exhaust-pump and i the mine-tube and also between the exhaustpump and the chamber covered by the diaphragm, substantially as described. 5';

8. The combination, with a tube leading from a mine-chamber to an outer station, and with apu mp controlling the flow of air through said tube, of a valve at the inner end of the pipe,

and a signal at the outer end, and a chamber to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS SHAW.

Witnesses:

J. LOGAN FITTS, XV. J. MooDIE. 

